I don’t know if any of you can remember the old 3D films where the glasses were given out at the start, but just the memory recalls feelings of nausea. In fact it is these films that automatically put me off anything with ‘3D’ as a prefix. However the “Novo Minoru 3D Webcam” (Minoru meaning “reality” in Japanese) is different and not just because it is cute.

The webcam is really two cameras that are positioned roughly the same distance apart which is important as it means the images can be correctly interpreted by the brain that sees them. Conveniently, this also means that when coupled with a study and well designed plastic case, it can create a particularly cute creature that appears to gaze at you. This is enhanced by the multi-position stand which, when upright, look suspiciously like two arms.

Obviously there are a few drawbacks with it being 3D, the most crucial being that anyone wanting to watch you in 3D will have to don some retro green and red glasses, but until technology develops that will always be a problem. Usable on MSN messenger, Skype (along with many others) and recordable for YouTube it is multi-functional and the 3D photos that it can take would be pretty cool.

So could this alien robot be your next webcam friend? It is scheduled to go on sale in December, in time for the Christmas rush, at around $100 which although it may seem steep for a webcam considering the technology it is quite reasonable. In fact, just for pure geek value this may be worth the investment, although whether it will function as a normal webcam is unclear. Of course, you could get two webcams, a bit of wood, some gaffer tape and hours worth of programming and you could have the same output, but who wouldn’t want this little alien on their monitor?